Cup feed machine



June 1934.

A. KUCERA cur FEED MACHINE Filed May 1 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Illlu (Zttornegg June 5, 1934. A KUCERA 1,962,019

CUP FEED MACHINE Filed May 19, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fizz 91% &

A400... I Gttornegg Patented June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES CUP FEED MACHINE Frank A. Kucera, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Union Special Machine Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 19, 1931, Serial No. 538,537

4 Claims. (Cl. 112-16) The'invention relates to new and useful improvements in a machine having a horizontally disposed needle and a looper cooperating therewith for making overseaming stitches.

An object of the invention is to provide a machine of the above type with means for housing and guiding the needle after it passes through the material, which guiding means also aids in the throwing out of the needle loop and in the positive positioning of the same for the looper to enter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle guiding and loop positioning means which is of one integral structure.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of a cup feed type of machine embodying the improvements.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in section with the looper positioned for the needle to enter the looper thread loop.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and on an enlarged scale and showing the looper as about to enter the needle thread loop.

Fig. 4 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation showing the looper as it is about to enter the needle thread loop.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the looper positioned for the needle to enter the looper thread loop.

6 is an end view looking toward the machine in the needle line, of the needle guiding fabric sections and a looper cooperating, with the needle lays thread loops around the edge of the fabric sections. The machine as shown is of the cup feed type and includes inner and outer feed wheels which support and feed the material being stitched.

Directly above the edges of the material is a stitch finger over which the thread'loops are laid by the looper. At the inner side of the fabric sections being stitched is a needle guide having a slot through which the needle passes as it enters the fabric sections. A particular feature of novelty in the present machine is the needle guiding and loop positioning device which is located outside of the fabric sections being stitched so that the needle, after it has penetrated the fabric sections, passes into the needle guide. This needle guide is of one-piece integral structure, and includes a passageway conforming very closely to the shaping of the needle with an inclined slot leading from said passageway upwardly which slot is so arranged and proportioned as to receive and direct and position the needle thread loop as it is thrown out by the needle.

It is thought that the invention will be better understood by reference to the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

A portion of a cup feed machine is shown in Fig. 1 and said machine includes a main casing 1 which carries a bracket 2, in which is mounted a shaft supporting at the upper end thereof a feed wheel 3. Also mounted on the casing is a bracket 4 to which an arm 5 is pivoted at 6, and this arm 5 carries a bearing sleeve 7 in which is mounted a shaft carrying a feed wheel 8. These feed wheels are driven by suitable devices and are usually referred to as of the cup feed type. Mounted for reciprocation in the casing 1, is a needle bar 9 carrying a needle 10. The needle thread for the needle is indicated at 71.. Cooperating with the needle is a looper 11 carried by a shank portion 12 mounted in a looper carrying bar 13. The looper thread is indicated at 1. looper and needle may be of any well known construction. Likewise the means for operating the feed wheels may be of any well known construction which will impart an intermittent feeding movement to each feed wheel. The machine as shown in the drawings is the type illustrated and described in the patent to James R. Moffat, granted Nov. 13, 1917, No. 1,246,302, and further illustration and description of the operating mechanism is not thought necessary.

The fabric sections to be stitched are gripped between the feed wheels 3 and 8. These fabric sections are indicated at F and F in the drawings. Directly above the edges of the fabric sections, as clearly shown in Figs i. and 5, is

a stitch finger 14 over which the thread loops are laid. In this type of machine, the needle which reciprocates in a horizontal line penetrates the fabric sections and as it is retracted, the needle thread loop is thrown out, the looper enters said needle thread loop, and then moves to the other side of the edge portions of the fabric sections where the looper thread loop is positioned for the needle to enter. These connected The devices for operating the thread loops are laid over the stitch finger and fed off from the end thereof. On the right side of the fabric sections as viewed in Figs. 4 and 5, is a needle guide 15 which is shown more in detail in Fig. 9. This needle guide is carried by an arm 16 which is secured by screws 18, 13 to a bracket 17 attached to the main casing. The stitch finger 14 is carried by this arm and is attached thereto by screws 19, 19. The arm carrying the stitch finger extends under a projecting lug 20 carried by a bar 21 which is adjustably secured by a screw 22 to the bearing sleeve 7. This lug overlying the arm carrying the stitch finger aids in holding the stitch finger in proper position and prevents abnormal yielding thereof.

The needle guide 15 is provided with a passageway 23 through which the needle moves and with a slot 24 leading therefrom so that the needle thread can pass out through the slot when the fabric sections are fed for the next needle penetration.

The needle, after it emerges from the fabric sections F, F, enters the needle guiding and loop positioning device 24.. This needle guiding and loop positioning device is located close to the outer face of the fabric section F. It is carried by a shank 25 which is secured by a screw 26 passing through an opening 2'? in the shank and threaded into the bearing sleeve 7. This needle guiding device is provided with a passageway 28 which is substantially circular in cross section and of such proportions as to guide and maintain the needle in its path and hold the needle from being deflected when the looper, as it engages the needle thread loop, places said needle under lateral strain. Extending in a direction inclined to the vertical and from the upper side of the passage outwardly to the upper face of the needle guiding device is a slot 29. The needle, as it is retracted, throws out a needle loop. The face of the passage 28 adjacent the underside of the needle ensures that the thread loop will be thrown upwardly on the retracting of the needle. This thread loop can only move upwardly and outwardly through the slot 29. The slot 29 is comparatively narrow and the opposite side walls thereof direct and position the needle thread loop as it is thrown upwardly through the slot for the entrance of the looper. The thrown out thread loop is indicated at n in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings. It will be noted that this thread loop extends above the upper face of the guiding device 24. The upper face of the guiding device 24 is cut away at 30 which is on the side of the slot that the looper point passes as it approaches to enter the needle thread loop. As the looper point moves into the thread loop, the looper is moving in the direction substantially at right angles to the needle and the needle thread loop is, of course, enlarged by the looper as it enters and carries the thread loop across the stitch finger to the opposite sides of the edge portions of the fabric sections so as to position the looper thread loop for the needle to enter. This pull on the needle thread loop exerts a lateral strain on the needle, but the needle is completely housed within the passage 28 and cannot move laterally or lift, or, in fact, be moved in any way out of its normal position. The slot 29 at the portion 290. is more opened so as to allow the needle thread loop to move back with the needle as it is retracted and escape from the slot and passage 28. This needle guiding device is one integral structure which is very important as it is essential that the needle shall be positively guided in its movements, and also the needle thread loop shall be positively positioned through the aid of this positioning device for the looper to enter said needle thread loop.

It is thought that the operation of the device will be obvious from the description which has been given above. The needle passes through the fabric sections, entering first the needle guiding passage 23, then the fabric sections, and then the needle guiding passage 28. As the needle is retracted, the thread loop is positively forced upwardly and outwardly through the slot and thus it is placed so that the point of the looper moving over the needle guiding device will with certainty enter the needle thread loop. As the looper continues its movement into the needle thread loop, the needle continues to be retracted and the lateral strain on the needle is taken by the needle guiding device 24, while the needle thread loop passes out through the slot 29a. The

looper moves to the other side of the fabric sections to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 5 where the looper thread loop is so placed that the needle on its next reciprocation will enter the same. Meanwhile a feed of the fabric sections takes place so that the needle on its next may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of means for supporting and feeding fabric sections, a horizontally disposed needle adapted to penetrate the fabric sections, a looper cooperating with said needle for forming stitches about the edges of the fabric sections, and a needle guide for receiving and guiding the needle after it passes through the fabric sections, said needle guide having thread guiding walls spaced from each other to receive the needle thread loop and disposed above the needle for directing and positioning the needle thread loop for the looper to enter.

2. The combination of means for supporting and feeding fabric sections, a horizontally disposed needle adapted to penetrate the fabric sections, a looper cooperating with said needle for forming stitches about the edges of the fabric sections, a needle guide having a passage therethrough, for receiving and guiding the needle, and a slot extending from said passage to the outer face of the needle guide for receiving and directing the needle thread loop.

3. The combination of means for supporting and feeding fabric sections, a horizontally disposed needle adapted to penetrate the fabric sections, a looper cooperating with said needle for forming stitches about the edges of the fabric sections, a needle guide having a cylindrical passage therethrough slightly larger than the diameter of the needle, and a slot leading from said passage upwardly, said slot being shaped and positioned so as to direct the needle thread loop.

4. The combination of means for supporting and feeding fabric sections, a horizontally disposed needle adapted to penetrate the fabric sections, a looper cooperating with said needle for forming stitches about the edges of the fabric sections, and a needle guide having a cylindrical passage for receiving the needle after it passes thrnugh the fabric sections, said passage being slightly larger than the diameter of the needle, and a slot extending from the passage to the cuter fage c: the needle guide, said slot entering 

